Gravity separator and process of separation



g E. o. MARTY GRAVITY SEPARATOR AND PROCESS 0F SEPARATION 2 Sheets-'Sheet l original Filed July 24, 1924 fifa/, /Vdf lig' E. o. MARTY GRAVITY SEPARATOR AND PROCESS OF SEPARATION originalvxfi'led-July 24, 1924 Patented Aug. 16, 1927.V

UNITED lSTATES EDGAR O. MARTY, F POTTSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

GRAVITY SEPARATOR AND PROCESS OF SEPARATION.

Application med July 24, 1924, serial No. 727,924. Renewed January 1o, 1927.

This invention relates to gravity separators and particularly relates to apparatus for separating slate, rock and other incombustible matter from coal, `or for separating the heavier metals from rock and the like.

The present disclosure may be regarded as an improvement upon the structure disclosed by my pending application, Serial No. 707,546, filed April 19, 1924.

Heretofore the separation of materials and more particularly the separation of coal from incumbustible substances has been accomplished by continuously discharging the mixture containing coal into the upper end l5 current of water through said hopper, the velocity of flow beingsuch as to float the coal in the upper portion yof the container while permitting the slate, rock and like relatively heavier substances to settle in said hopper.

In the pending application above identified, there is disclosed a provision for independently regulating the velocity of the upward flow of water and the volume of such flow to better adapt such an apparatus to handle materials of different characteristics.

In making such provision, the disclosure disposes within a'hopper or the like, a subvary the annular passage around said head.

The present invention has for one of its objects the use of such a head as a pressure chamber, and the utilization of an upward discharge of liquid from said chamber to separate a mixture of materials according to their specific gravities.

A further object of the invention is to subject a mixture of materials successively to upward liquid currents to accomplish a preliminary and a final separation of the materials according to their specific gravities.

A still further object is to provide an improved means for agitating a mixture of materials preliminary toor during hydraulic separation thereof according to their specilic gravities. Y

These and various other objects are att-ained by the construction hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein,

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the improved apparatus, in one embodiment thereof. Figure 2 is a plan view of the same.

of a hopper, while maintaining an upwardr stantially central hollow head, adjustable tor Figure 3 is an enlargement of a portion of Figure 1 primarily disclosing the features adapting the aforementioned hollow head to discharge an upward current of liquid. j

- In these views the reference character 1 designates` a funnel shaped hopper supported at a suitable elevation upon a frame 2. A pipe 3 controlled by a valve 4e is adapted to deliver water or another suitable liquid upwardly through said hopper, the bottom of the latter preferably having an upward extension 5 with conically flared upper end 6 forming an outlet for said pipe.

Substantially centrally within the hopper 1, a hollow head 7 is arranged so as to form an annular passage 7a for the upward flow of water delivered by the pipe 3. Said head has reversely coned upper and lower portions, the upper of which is formed with an internal central sleeve 7b, with which is rigidly engaged the lower end portion of a vertical pipe or hollow shaft 8, functioning both as a support for the head 7 and as a liquid supply connection thereto. Said pipe engages a pair of slide bearings 9 suitably mounted upc-n theV frame 2 and above the latter a hose 10 or other flexible conduit has a supply connection to said pipe.

' The. hollow head 7 has formed in its top portion an annular' slot 11 and said portion is reinforced by a plurality of internal radial ribs 12, rigidly holding together the portions of said head above and below said slot. 13 designates a sheetmetal cover plate for the slot 11, formed preferably of brass or bronze or some other non-rusting metal, and uniformly perforated throughout its area as indicated at 14 to provide for an upward discharge of liquid from the head 1 throughout the annulus formed by the slot 11.

Inits bottom portion, the head 7 is formed with a cleanout opening 15v normally closed by a plug 15a.

' The impure coal or other mixture requiring separation is delivered by a chute 15b to a cylindrical distributing chamber 16 arranged above the head 1 and mounted fast upon the pipe S in a coaxial relation thereto by a spider 17. Preferably the chamber 16 has its lower portion18 vertically adjustable to vary tlie space between said portion and the head 1 through which material discharges from said chamber upon the coned top face of said head. Thus, inclined slots 19 may be formed at suitable points in the lowerend portion of the main body of the chamber 16, through which extend clamping bolts 2O carried by the adjustable part 18 of said chamber. Thus, rotation of the part 18 will shift the bolts 20 toward the upper' and lower ends of the slots 19 and will thereby raise or lower said part 18. Said bolts will further clamp the part 18 in adjustment.

Describing now the means for supporting the pipe S and head 7 and for vertically adjusting the same, 21 designates a threaded portion of said pipe arranged between the slide hearings 9, and 22 is an adjusting collar engaging said portion and seating upon a plate 23 horizontally carried by the frame 2. lllhen said collar is rotated by any suitable means, the pipe 8 and head 7 are raised or lowered according to the direction of actuation of said collar.

Upon the body portion of the chamber 16 there is rigidly exteriorly mounted a ring 24 rotatively seating an annular worm gear 25 adapted to be gradually driven by a worm 26 actuable by a pulley 27. 28 designates a plurality of agitator' or spreader bars, rigidly carried by and depending from the gear 25 around the chamber 16.- TBreferably the lower end portions of said bars closely approach the head 7 adjacent the mixture outlet from the chamber 16, and preferably said rods are secured to the gear 25 by bolts 29 vertically mounted in said gear and having split portions below the latter wherein the bars 2S are clamped as indicated at 30.

31 designates a frustro-conical separating ring arranged coaxially of the head 7 and upwardly spaced from said head, preferably slightly below the central horizontal plane of the slot 1l. Said ring is carried by a plurality of hanger rods 32 having their' upper ends engaging a spider ring 32a mounted fast upon the chamber 16. rlhe separator ring 31 and its supporting rods 32 are adapted to be adjusted vertically by threading the upper ends of said rods and engaging therewith nuts 35 seating' upon the ring 32a. `While the provision 'for disposal of the heavier substances which are separated out by the described apparatus is not a feature of the present invention, it may be said that such materials discharge from the hopper 1 through an inclined passage 36 into a tank 3T from which they are. continuously elevated by a bucket conveyer 38, discharging from the latter to a chute 39.

ln the ope-ration of the described invention, a mixture containing coal (or some other material to be separated out) is continuously delivered through the chute 15" to the distributing chamber 16, discharging from the latter upon the conical top face of the head 7. Flowing down the incline of said head, the mixture encounters the upward current of liquid discharging through the perforations 14. The pressure of liquid produced within the head 7 is so regulated as to impart to the discharge through said perforations a velocity adequate to raise any coal iiowing across the perforated plate a distance above the head 7 exceeding that at which that ring 31 is spaced from said head. Such heavier impurities as may be mixed with the coal will remain adjacent the head 7 and will flow down the incline thereof loeneatli the said ring. These impurities upon reaching the point of maximum diameter of said head will descend through the annular passage T surrounding the lower portion of the head, whence they will be conducted through the passage 36 into the tank 37.

rlhe coal elevated by the discharge through the per' rations 1% will contain only a small proportion of the heavier impurities, vif any. A portion ol' this coal may rise directly to the liquid level iidicated at -lO but the larger portion will slide down the inclined surface of 'the ring 31 until it encounters the current of liquid risiiig' between the head .7 and hopper 1. The velocit-y of this currentwill be adequate to carry the coal upwardly, adjacent the hopper wall, to the overflow point at the upper edge of said w where the coal together with the overflowing liquid will discharge into an annular trough ell surrounding the upper portion of the hopper, whence it will Gcontinuously discharge by way of chute 42. Any residue of the heavier impurities still remaining in the coal after its p :sage above the separator ring 31 will drop out and descend through the annular j 'issage 7a when the coal is being elevated by the current discharged fron'i said passage. Said current is regulated as to volume by the valve #l and as to velocity by adjustment of the head 7 vertically through turning the collar 22.

By properly regulatingl the velocity and volume of the current, the coal may be floated to the overflow point with a minimum expenditure of power to produce such flotation.

It is to be noted that in the preliminary (and primary) separation which is accomplished by the upward discharge from the head 7 the material being treated, is spread out in a thin layer upon the top surface of said head so that the current through this layer may act most effectively upon the ame. Further it will be seen that this current is required to elevate the coal only the slight distance necessary to allow the heavier impurities to pass below the separater ring 31, while the coal passes thereabove. Thus the pressure of liquid necessary to accomplish the preliminary separation is minimized. 1

By preliminary removal from the coal of the major portion of its heavier impurities and leaving only a small portion (if any) of impurities to be removed during eleva- Sli lll() llo tion of the coal by the current rising adjacent the wall of the hopper l, it is practically assured that this final separation will be quite thorough. As the coal is being raised finally to the overflow point, the quantity of descending heavier impurities is so slight as to offer very little resistance to upward travel of the coal.

It is desirable to locate the slot ll some distance from the lower edge of tne head 7 so as to avoid interference between the current flowing through said slot and that rising around said head. Use of the ring 3l permits such a location of the slot while preventingr the stratum of coal which is elevated in passing over t-he slot, from again settling down among the heavier impurities before the current rising around the head is encountered.

By adjusting the nuts upon the upper ends of the rods 32, the separator ring 3l may be spaced above the head 7 in its most effective position.

'While the invention has been described as embodied in a machine generally known as a coal washer, it is to be understood that the disclosed principles of construction and operation are applicable to the grading and separating of any mixture of materials differing as to their specific gravities.

It will be noted that a portion of the hopper l adjacentto its upper margin is inclined reversely to the body of said hopper, thus somewhat restricting the hopper outlet and consequently increasing the dept-h of overflow above the outlet edge, Thus there is assured a sufhcient depth above 'said edge to permit carrying over the latter of the larger particles of coal.

lVhat I claim is:

l. A gravity separator comprising a hopper, means for producing an upward current of liquid within said hopper, a hollow head within said hopper forming an annular passage for said current, said head having an upward discharge opening', means for delivering a mixture of materials differing as to specific gravity upon the central portion of said head, the top of said head being inclined to deflect said materials toward said annular passage, a pipe supporting said head and means for delivering a fluid through said pipe to the head for discharge through said opening to effect a flotation of a lighter one of said materials preliminary to a separation effected by the current through said annular passage.

2. A gravity separator comprising a hopper, means for delivering a mixture of materials differing as to specific gravities to the central upper portion of said hopper, a hollow head substantially co-axial with and spaced from said hopper having a conical upper face and forming with the hopper wall an annular passage, and having a discharge opening in said face below the discharge point of the materials upon said head, means for delivering a fluid under pressure to said head to discharge upwardly through said opening, a ring spaced above a portion of said surface below said opening for separating one of said materials elevated by the discharge from said opening, and means for producing an upwz rd current of liquid through said annular passage, said ring being adapted to deliver the heavier and lighter materials in vertically spaced relation to the upflowing current.

3. In gravity separator, an inclined sur- Eace having a discharge opening therein, means for delivering a mixture of materials differing as to specific gravities upon said surface above the level of said opening, whereby said materials are caused to descend upon said surface across said opening, means for effecting a fluid discharge upwardly through said opening, a member spaced above the portion of said surface below the level of said opening for effectingr a preliminary separation from said mixture of one of said materials elevated by said discharge, and means for producing an upward fluid current past the. lower edge of said surface to complete said separation, said separating member being adapted to deliver the preliminarily separated components to the upf'lowing current, the lighter above the delivery level of the heavier.

/l-. A gravity separator comprising a hopper, means for producing' an upward current of liquid in said hopper, a hollow head within said hopper above said means, forming with the 'hopper an annular upward channel for the said current, said head having a substantially conical top portion formed with a discharge opening below the overflow level of the hopper and adapted to deliver a fiui'd into the hopper, a pipe supporting said head and communicating therewith, means for supplying a fluid to said pipe for delivery through said head to said discharge opening, means for vertically adjusting said pipe and head, and means for discharging a mixture of materials vdiffering in specific gravities upon the central portion of said head.

5. A gravity separator comprising a hopper, means for producing an upward flow of liquid within said hopper, means for delivering a mixture of materials differing as to their specific gravities to the upper portion of said hopper, a member within said hopper forming-an annular passage for the upflow of said liquid and for the downflow of the heavier of said materials, means for subjecting said materials within said hopper to an upward flow of fluid to effect a separation of the lighter materials preliminary to the separation effected by the current rising through said annular passage, and means for lil() CII regulating the upward flow through said annular passage independently of the fluid current effecting preliminary separation.

6. A method of separating a mixture of n'iaterials differing as to their specific gravities consist-ing in flowing said materials upon a perforated surface, maintaining an upward discharge of fluid through the perfor-ations of said surface and through the flowing materials and thereby forming an overlying stratum of the lighter materials and an underlying stratum of the heavier materials, discharging the materials tlmsstratified from an edge of said surface, and in maintaining adjacent to said edge a relatively strong upflow of fluid adequate to elevate the upper stratum to a higher level while permitting descent of the heavier stratum.

7. rl`he method of separating a mixture of materials differing as to their specific gravities, consisting in flowing said materials upon a. perforated surface, maintaining an upward discharge of fluid through the perforations of said surface and through the flowing materials, regulating the velocity of such discharge to form overlying stratum of the lighter materials and an underlying stratum of the heavier materials, discharging the materials thus stratified from an edge of said surface, maintaining a relatively strong upflow of fluid adjacnit to said edge, and in regulating the last mentioned upflow independently of the discharge through said surface to elevate the upper stratum of materials to a higher level while permitting descent of the lower stratum.

8. The method of separating a mixture of materials differing as to their specific gravities, consisting` in flowing such materials down an inclined surface upon all sides of said surface maintaining an upward discharge of fluid through said surface and through the downflowing materials, thereby forming an overlying stratum of the lighter materials and an underlying stratum of the heavier materials, discharging the materials thus st Tatified from said surface at the lower edge of its inclination, and in maintaining a relatively strong upflow of fluid surrounding said surface adequate te elevate the overlying stratum while permitting descent of the underyling stratum.

9. ln a gravity separator, a separating chamber. means for delivering into the upper portion of said chamber a mixture of materialsy differing as to specific gravity, means for discharging a fluid upwardly within said chamber, a member within said chamber above said discharge means vertically adjustable to control the fluid velocity, a spreader for' said materials arranged above said control member, and adjustable vertically in unison with said control membei', and means for rotatively actuating said spreader.

l0. ln a gravity separator, a separating chamber having a conical wall, means for delivering into the upper portion of said chamber a mixture of materials differing as to specific gravity, means for discharging a fluid upwardly within said chamber, a control, membe for the flow of said fluid arranged within said chamber above said discharge means, and forming with the conical wall of said chamber an annular passage for said flow, a vertical shaft carrying said control member, means for vertical-ly adjusting said shaft to exercise the controlling function of said control member, and aspreader for the materials to be separated arranged above said control member and rotatable upon said shaft.

in testimony whereof I sign this specification.

EDGAR O. MARTY. 

